A desktop widget is a small specialized graphical user interface (GUI) application that provides some visual information and/or easy access to frequently used functions such as clocks, calendars, news aggregators, calculators and desktop notes. A widget engine is a software service available to users for running and displaying desktop widgets on the desktop of a computer. Desktop widgets are different than web widgets. Web widgets are hosted remotely and run inside a web page. Web widgets allow anyone to create a website by embedding content or tools from one site onto a page of another site. In contrast, a desktop widget is a desktop-based mini-application that is hosted locally. A desktop widget shows discrete information and is often connected to the Internet to provide content.
One of the most popular desktop widgets is YAHOO! Widgets. YAHOO! Widgets provide an XML/JavaScript solution to building simple components for a person's desktop. These components, however, like all desktop widgets, have to be rendered by a proprietary YAHOO! widget engine installed on a user's desktop. Installing desktop widgets on a user's computer may result in clutter of a work computer's desktop with applications that are for personal use. In addition, such desktop widgets cannot currently be installed in an application or as part of a user interface because the desktop widgets require the proprietary widget engine to run, and the widget engine must be installed on the desktop.
From an enterprise perspective, there is no way to administrate desktop widgets as most desktop widgets, including YAHOO! Widgets, require a manual download to the desktop of the widget engine, and once a user has installed this application, the user can download any number of widgets the user chooses, including widgets that may contribute to the employee's efficiency, but also many widgets that are of a personal nature and which may reduce efficiency. Businesses that wish to develop or promote widgets that are useful to their employees or clients have to contend with the possibility that employees will take advantage of the presence of the desktop widget engine on their desktop to download non-business essential desktop widgets.